/m/derek_jeter

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He does have a rich history of playing in Houston after all, going 4 of 13 in a three-game set way back in 2008. The question won't be whether a writer suggests he become commissioner, but only how many.

Before Jeter's first AB, the Astros left the dugout and the bullpen to give him a standing ovation. Even Michael Kay was confused by that. It's more than a bit over-the-top, but whatever. I think being nauseated by it is silly, you're just looking for something to be pissed off about.

I wonder what Jeter does with all this crap...throw it into the nearest trash can before leaving the ballpark?

Maybe not as callous as that, however I am sure most of it ends up in some storage facility or storage area of his own mansion. Most of it is just gaudy rubbish that no one in their right mind would consider putting on public display.

Not sure if he's still posting, but after Mariano's tour last year, I am sure Ray Diperna's head will explode by the second week of this.

What do the latter stages of the farewell tour look like if Jeter's as cooked as he's seemed this spring? Mo's continued excellence made his farewell tour seem valedictory, like a victory lap. If Jeter is hitting 180/280/270 and only getting to every second ground ball, then some of these events later in the year are going to feel a little bit tragic.

Assuming he only gets these in his last series in a city, and that the Yankees visit all AL East teams more than one series, we'll get a month's break from these - then resume with a vengeance in Anaheim May 4-6, Milwaukee May 9-11, Mets/CitiField May 14-15, Wrigleyville May 20-21, Comiskeyland May 22-24, and St. Louis May 26-28.

This kind of garbage really makes baseball seem like a country club sport (having PGA pros involved doesn't help). I sure hope some fanbase has the courage to boo the crap out of him during these ceremonies.

no, they came out of the dugout and gave him a standing ovation before his first AB - and this is the SECOND day, and after all those **** gifts which was AFTER all the a$$skissing ceremony the FIRST game, you know, the ASTROS opening Day at the ASTROS park.

seriously WFT - you woulda thought saint jetah had spent most of his career as an astro. they made more fuss over him than any actual ASTRO. including wannabe Saint Biggio

Where does this end? Who qualifies for gifts from their opponents? It looks like the more money you made in your career the more gifts you get. It's like corporate CEO retirment plans.

It's not like there are a lot of players who are going to get this treatment. You need a long hof level career, primarily identified with one team, few if any controversies that could lead to a fan backlash on road parks, and an announced retirement sometime before the All star break of the current season.

Basically you have Rivera, Jeter, Chipper......of recent years, but probably not many others, and among current players, if Ichiro announced his retirement, he would probably be worthy of the accolades, although him being on the wrong team probably damps that likelihood.

Real fans are far too classy for such behavior, as demonstrated by the standing ovation Jeter received in Houston. Only at BBTF are the haters represented in significant numbers.

Agreed. Not sure why this is upsetting people so much. Even if you don't like the guy, who cares, a small event before the game starts, isn't going to ruin your day.

"No kidding. It's baseball teams and fans honoring a Hall of Famer player at the end of a long career. I don't know why the hell this brings out so many Primates' Inner Pearlman."

I'm not sure many Primates are angry as much as mystified.
Mariano had a nice theme of visiting with baseball lovers of all sorts in various cities, which is nice.
But the ceremonial, meaningless tchochkes presented at each site are preposterous and worthy of ridicule for all reasons cited elsewhere.
It would make far more sense for the $100M+ career players to show up in each host city and instead of receiving gifts, have a ceremony celebrating the donation of a check of theirs to build a youth center in the rough part of each city. That would be something for everyone to celebrate.

Not that either player doesn't do a lot of charity already, but it's lame to give sometimes expensive, meaningless, unappreciated gifts to extraordinarily wealthy players from opposing teams.

You seem to be thinking that anyone who recognizes the absurdity must also be "hot and bothered about it." There are more landing places than that.

Pointing out the absurdity is fine. Getting nauseated (e.g. Post 3) is another. I'm talking about the many, many instances of the latter.

Many people who receive retirement gifts are in better financial shape than the people giving them.

In these cases, the people giving the retirement gifts are in much, much better financial shape than the ones getting them (though I suppose we can't put it past Crane to pass a hat around the clubhouse).

you woulda thought saint jetah had spent most of his career as an astro.

Well, he should have. But instead we got part of Phil Nevin's career.
Was at the game Thursday and couldn't help thinking how nice it would have been having Jeter, Biggio and Bagwell for a number of years.

Anyway, I applauded Jeter in his first at bat. He's been a great player, and I don't have any problems with the ceremonies and such. I have to wonder if Jeter will get tired of it, though.

I breathlessly await the appearance of Sacheen Littlefeather to accept the presents on Jeter's behalf since he finds the whole exercise demeaning and beneath him. She will begin to read a very long speech describing in great detail why Jetes will no longer participate in these "capitalistic demonstrations" when, after a few minutes of mute horror, the organist will break into catchy show-tunes and Littlefeather will be forcefully escorted off the field.